Georgia Democrats continue to stand by the President even as national Democrats call into question his fitness to serve.
Democrat leaders are in an increasingly difficult situation. Roughly 70% of Americans believe President Joe Biden mentally unfit to run for reelection and leaked internal polling from the White House shows former President Trump winning in a land-slide. Yet over 275,000 Democrat voters cast their ballot for President Biden in the party’s primary on March 14th.
For many Democratic leaders the choice is between supporting the will of their voters or joining the calls for Biden to step down. Right now, Georgia Democrats are circling the wagons to protect Biden while turning the attack against Trump.
“What we know now is that the state of Georgia is in play, that the people of Georgia want to see a leader who sees that. Donald Trump only sees himself,” said former Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
United States Senator Raphael Warnock and other elected Democrats have continued to voice support for the President but nationally, some Democrat leaders are hedging their bets. Biden campaign co-chair and longtime supporter Representative James Clyburn (D-SC) has voiced support for Biden while also outlining a “mini-primary” as an option to replace the 81-year-old President. Clyburn also publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, but reiterated his support for Biden to remain in the race.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution officially threw in the towel on the Biden campaign.
“[T]he unfortunate truth is that Biden should withdraw from the race, for the good of the nation he has served so admirably for half a century,” the paper wrote.
A consensus appears to be growing among national Democrat leadership that Biden should step down, but the President continues to affirm that he will stay in the race. A scandal driven by anonymous leaks also appears to be brewing inside the White House. If staffers and party leadership had concerns about President Biden’s health but hid that information from the public, it could violate any trust between primary voters and their party. As a swing state key for either party to take the White House, it will be hard for Georgia Democrats to sit on the sidelines of any debate regarding Biden and his possible replacements.
